Many of you know the biblical stories of Jonah and the whale and Mary, the mother of Jesus, but you may have never thought about them together. And why would you? The stories have almost nothing in common. Some of you find it hard to believe either one, and I understand that. There was a time in my life when I did not believe them. God does some mysterious and unexplainable things in the Bible. I finally came to the conclusion that if there is a God and he created the universe, then any miracle was no big deal to him. We can, however, learn an important lesson from these two stories.

Jonah was an Old Testament prophet from the nation of Judah who lived over 700 years before Christ was born. Mary, on the other hand, was a young girl, probably between 13 and 15 years of age, living in the small town of Nazareth. But these two individuals, separated by time, culture, gender, age and calling, had a common experience. And the way they responded to that experience changed the rest of their lives.

Jonah was a reluctant prophet of the Lord. In that day, Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, a nation that often attacked and enslaved the ancient Israelites. As you can imagine the Israelites, including Jonah, hated the Assyrians. God appeared to Jonah and told him to go preach to them and call them to repent. That was a hard and unpleasant task, one that would cause great personal sacrifice. Others would likely ostracize him for going and appearing to reach out to or speak to the Assyrians. When confronted with this message from God he had a choice.

Mary was a young girl who was pledged to be married. This was the common custom of that day. The fathers would arrange a marriage and the girl would live with her parents until she was married. It was the height of scandal for the girl to become pregnant while she was still living with her parents. In fact, she could have been stoned to death for her pregnancy. When the angel Gabriel came and appeared to Mary, he came bearing exciting, yet frightening, news. Gabriel told Mary she was highly favored by God, and chosen by him to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and to have his son, the long awaited for Messiah. But to face the shame of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy would be a hard and unpleasant task. Having to face one’s parents, family, and fiancé with that news was going to be a great personal sacrifice. She was not believed, and many considered Jesus an illegitimate child her whole life. When confronted with this message from God she had a choice. She could have said no.

Both Jonah and Mary had a choice. Jonah said no and ran. Mary, who was far younger and had less time to think about things, said yes. Do you believe in God? Has God ever whispered to your heart in that small, still voice? Often, what God prompts us to do is not easy. It requires sacrifice. People will often not understand or agree. But my prayer has been that I will respond like Mary, not Jonah. Sometimes God gives us time to think and pray through major decisions. Other times he whispers and asks us to respond quickly. Whenever we clearly hear and confirm God is speaking I pray we will believe and respond like Mary. Whatever God is whispering to you today, say yes. You will never regret it.

Bob Felts is lead pastor at Brookwood Church. He an be reached at bobfelts@brookwoodchurch.com